


Postcards from Berlin

by exmachinarium



Category: DRAMAtical Murder - All Media Types
Genre: Long-Distance Relationship, M/M, Multi, Phone Sex, Polyamory
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-03-15
Updated: 2015-03-15
Packaged: 2018-03-18 02:10:41
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,028
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3552119
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/exmachinarium/pseuds/exmachinarium
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>While Noiz takes Aoba and Clear on a 'business and more' trip to Germany, Koujaku stays behind - but is by no means forgotten.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Postcards from Berlin

**Author's Note:**

> A birthday fic written for my girlfriend's birthday and set in an AU where after the collapse of the Oval Tower Aoba, Koujaku, Noiz and Clear settle down together like one big, gay family that they are. Written before Theo (Noiz's younger brother) was revealed, so it sadly doesn't contain him.

Now, Midorijima has its own airlines, which probably counts as a big achievement for such a small island. Still, the furthest you can go is Taiwan, from where you need to switch to a REAL plane if you want to get anywhere at all. Which is precisely what Noiz planned for their first 'business and more' trip to Germany.

"Koujaku-saaaaan!"

"What? What is it?" the man asks with a smile. Clear might look and act adult on the regular basis (that is, if you have a rather weird and quirky adult in mind), but in times like these he reminds him of a certain adorable child he used to know way back when.

"Are you sure you can't go with us?"

"Yeah. I need to take care of my business here and besides..." it's a bit embarrassing to admit, but he suspects Clear probably knows that already. "Besides, I'd feel a bit out of place there."

"In that kimono? I bet."

"Hey, you're the last one here to give me fashion advice, bunny boy."

His voice might sound irritated, but he just can't help grinning. Noiz in a suit - a proper one, not some freaky heap of punk rags - is a sight to behold. And due to the (nearly) last-minute hairdresser intervention his hair practically glows, which, as far as Koujaku's concerned, screams 'I'm a professional, now give me all your money'. Which probably counts as a minor miracle.

"Don't lose any of them on the way, yeah?"

Noiz scoffs, but there's not much strength behind it. He already equipped Clear and the Allmates with all the necessary data, language extensions and maps. Besides, he knows Koujaku knows and all this is just an attempt at small talk. That's why instead of saying anything, he simply pulls the man down by that ridiculous tassel collar and plants a single firm kiss to his lips.

"Don't pine too much, old man."

"For you? Not a chance."

The 'good luck out there' remains unspoken - all that Koujaku wanted to say, he said already through his work. As he glances after Noiz, there's a movement about his legs.

"Ah, Ren. Excited for the adventure?" he gingerly picks up the Allmate and flashes him a broad smile. Ren sticks his tongue out and wags his tail.

"The journey will probably put a strain on Aoba's life functions but appropriate counter-measures will be introduced as soon as possible."

"I expect no less of you. Take good care of Aoba and the others, all right?"

"I will." Then, after a moment, "Is Beni unwell?"

"Nah, he's just a little moody," Koujaku rubs the dog behind the ear, then looks down the folds of his kimono. "Oi, Beni, quit with that fussy diva act and say goodbye properly.   
You know you'll regret it if you don't."

There's a moment of silence, followed by:

"All right, all right. Jeez."

A fluffy blotch of red practically trips out of Koujaku's kimono and flies up to land on Ren's head, giving it a small peck that somehow manages to look both angry and affectionate.

"Don't get lost, mutt. And bring me a souvenir. Something nice and expensive."

"I'll do my best."

Koujaku looks away from the exchange, focusing instead on the last member of the going away party.

"Aoba."

The man in question doesn't look up and the blush on his face somehow manages to hit another, deeper shade of red. It's his first time travelling so far away from Midorijima, so the nervousness is understandable. Still, it takes Noiz irritated grumbling in the background to finally make Aoba look up and pretty much throw himself into Koujaku's waiting arms. They hug each other tightly in complete silence, Koujaku taking the last chance he'll have in nearly two weeks to stroke the thick, blue strands of hair and kiss both of Aoba's reddened cheeks.

"And don't forget to call!" he shouts only half-jokingly as they move through the gates.

"Keep dreaming, stupid hippo!" Aoba shouts back with a grin.

***

He gets the first text while finishing the cut on the first client of the day and has to resist dropping everything just to pick up. As it turns out, it's a text from Noiz; Koujaku doesn't even have to check the sender, the dry, matter-of-fact tone says it all:

"Taipei. Next plain in approx. 40 mins."

Followed shortly by:

"Aoba found out how long it takes to get to Berlin."

Which, funnily enough, coincided with a message from Aoba himself:

"NEARLY TWELVE HOURS. CAN YOU BELIEVE IT?? UGH. Good thing Ren can stay in active mode, have some new games to try out. Guess you won't hear from us in a while."

Koujaku shakes his head and invites the next client to take a seat. Before he gets back to work, the coil beeps with another message:

"If you're working, turn your coil off. Incoming Clear airport spam."

He smiles but doesn't do as he's told. The buzz of incoming messages is a pleasant background noise as he delivers another perfect cut.

***

Aoba looks out the hotel window yet again, still not quite believing what he sees. Not only because of the architecture that is so vastly different from what he's used to, but also because in spite of having spent nearly half a day on the plane, they still landed in broad daylight. It's not like he was getting sleepy yet, but his head was a jumble of thoughts stretching from 'let's go sightseeing' to 'it's time to eat dinner and prepare for the night'. Grandma already knew they landed safely, all that was left was calling Koujaku, he should be already done for the day, maybe heading to Mizuki's place or meeting up with the rest of Beni-Shigure...

"Aoba-san, smile!"

He immediately wheels around on the bed, shooting Clear a broad grin and signing 'victory' with both hands. Clear's eyes make an audible click, followed by a small grimace of concentration and a contented smile.

"I was checking something out," he explains seeing Aoba's questioning gaze. "Noiz-kun connected me to a cloud space so that I won't spam Koujaku-san's coil because it might explode!"

Aoba laughs, but admits it's a good idea, beckoning Clear over to the bed so he could share the settings. On the other side, Noiz is relentlessly tapping on his laptop, browsing through the data one last time before the conference.

"I'll be leaving in less than an hour," he says to nobody in particular, "you can either stay here and rest or go sightseeing. I bet Clear has already planned an extensive route."

Clear nods somewhat sheepishly, which earns him a fond hair ruffle, because Aoba just can't say no to such display.

"Just one quick call and we're ready to go, all right?"

"Why don't you just put the old man on the speaker?"

"Whaaat, missing him already?" Aoba teases and quick-dials Koujaku (who actually was heading over to Mizuki's place).

***

The days that follow have a sort of surreal quality to them. While on a purely logical level Koujaku knows the others are away in Europe, it feels like they never even left the house, as they stay in touch nearly all the time (so much that Koujaku can tell precisely when they fall asleep and wake up each day). He supposes Noiz must've connected the cloud storage with some super secret government resources, as there is no way any commercial service could provide enough memory to hold in all of Clear's snapshots. If he had enough ink, Koujaku would be able to print out a complete and detailed panorama of every single street corner of the whole Berlin - and all of these would be filled with familiar faces grinning at him (or, in case of Noiz, smirking fondly). Aoba adds comments to some of the photos, ranging from 'whoa, look at THAT' to 'here's Noiz pretending he didn't get excited by a chocolate model of the Titanic in the display window... LAAAME' (Koujaku saves this picture on his coil - for blackmail - along with the one that follows and features Noiz as a very grumpy Rose with Clear as the overly joyous Jack). Then there's of course the usual deluge of Aoba's selfies from the hotel room and various cafes the three visited. On the second day he actually attempted a 'seductive' photo of himself leaning against a column in the Pergamon museum, but all you can see in the picture are two blurry silhouettes of Aoba and most likely an angry warden. ("Before you ask - no, we weren't fined for that. It was close though." reads the text he received during the dinner at Tae's. She looked over his shoulder and hmphed, brows knitting with exasperation.)

The texts Koujaku receives are only slightly fewer in number and most come, surprisingly enough, from Noiz. Some read like monotonous entries in a ship log, as if he felt obliged to prove on every step that yes, everyone's fine and yes, he's taking good care of them. But there are some that feel... Oddly affectionate (although Koujaku highly doubts anyone apart from himself, Aoba and Clear would call them that). "Your spring rolls taste better". "They have a shamisen in the Musikmuseum". "You'd buy out that hairdressing shop" (shortly followed by "They deliver worldwide.")...

And then there are the calls.

"Koujaku-san, wie geht's? Wir haben heute schon sooo viel gesehen und werden auch mehr, aber jetzt regnet es und-"

"Clear, Clear, wait up, I don't understand a single word you're saying!" Koujaku laughs. It's not the first time Clear mixes the languages in his excitement and it's nothing short of endearing.

"I'm sorry!" Clear blushes in embarrassment and the coil is immediately snatched away from him by Aoba who, as far as Koujaku can tell, is completely drenched.  
It does funny things to Koujaku's stomach.

"What he was trying to say is that we got caught in a rain while sightseeing. And because we have nothing better to do, we decided to call you."

"'Nothing better to do', eh? You little..."

"Where are you anyway?"

"Mizuki's place. The weather's so-so in here as well, so I called it a day earlier."

"Slacker."

"I'm not the one on holiday here, remember?"

"Yeah, yeah. Greet Haga-san from me if you happen to pass the junk shop."

"Will do." Koujaku looks up from the coil to wave towards Mizuki, who has just emerged from the tattoo parlour. 'Aoba?' mouths Mizuki and after a nod slides to the neighbouring bar stool and leans in.

"Yo."

"Hey there, Mizuki! How's stuff?"

"The usual," Mizuki shrugs. "You're the one conquering the world, not us."

"Rrright. Oi, Clear, come here and say hi to Mizuki!"

"Wait, what-" Mizuki tries to pull away bashfully, but Koujaku would have none of that; he grabs Mizuki by the waist so that he can't hop off the stool before the bouncy mass of white (and apparently water-resistant) hair is visible on the coil screen.

"Mizuki-san!"

"Oh, h-hello, Clear. You look good today."

Clear beams at him happily and in a single breath goes on to relate the trip to nearby Potsdam in great detail. By the look on Mizuki's face, half of it never reaches his ears. Koujaku smirks, pats his mesmerised friend on the shoulder and walks around the bar to fix himself a drink. It's going to take a while.

("You're evil," Mizuki grunts afterwards. Koujaku just shoots him a 'you're welcome' grin.)

***

Day five is when it starts to get a little lonely. It's the weekend, so after the usual Friday deluge of customers getting their party cuts and dye jobs, Saturday arrives with a dull stillness. The silence in their shared home becomes a little too much, so instead of trying to endure it, Koujaku retreats to his old flat (he's keeping it nice and orderly in spite of practically never using it anymore). He runs the usual check of supplies, browses a few pages in search of inspiration. From what he remembers, Noiz is bound to attend a conference that will probably turn into a dinner accompanied by business talks. He really hopes he won't forget to actually eat something in the rush of things. Aoba is probably still sleeping off the night at the club, while Clear is on a super-secret mission to buy souvenirs (Noiz's words). Which, all in all, means Koujaku is completely alone for the time being.

"When did you say they come back?" Beni asks from his shoulder grumpily.

"Five more days..." Koujaku sighs and gathers the Allmate in his hands. Beni ruffles his feathers and nuzzles his head against his owner's palm in a gesture of solidarity. If asked,   
he'd claim the only reason for missing Ren is that he can't find anything similarly fluffy to use as a cushion, but it's quite obvious it's far more than that (and it also doesn't explain why he complains so much about the absence of Pseudorabbit).

Koujaku smiles at his little companion, then gets up and moves to the bed, where he puts Beni down and flops next to him.

"Say, Beni..."

"Yeah?"

"We should probably check on Aoba. Can you call for me?" he asks, pushing his coil towards the Allmate.

"Didn't you say he was asleep?"

"Well, he might not be now. Just make the call."

"All right, but if he wakes up, it's all your fault."

"Sure, sure..." Koujaku stretches on the bed, resting his head on his arms and observing Beni at work discreetly.

"Koujaku. I'm sorry to inform Aoba is still sound asleep."

"Hiii, Ren!"

"It's you, Beni? Hello. Where's Koujaku?"

"Right here. Wanted to check if Aoba's awake... But apparently the dumbass fell asleep himself!"

Koujaku bites back a grunt and leaves the Allmates to their own devices. Somewhere along the lines he actually does drop off for a while.

("You called and fell asleep? Boy, you ARE getting old." Aoba laughs as he finally wakes up and notices the 'active call' sign on his coil. His hair is mussed from sleep and Koujaku would like nothing more than to run his fingers through the jumbled strands.)

***

"Koujaku-san, are you busy?"

"Never been less. What is it, Clear? And why aren't you using the coil?"

"Because I want to show you something, but we must be very discreet, yes?" Clear's face appears in what Koujaku assumes is a mirror. He's wearing a broad, amused grin and presses one finger to his lips.

"All right. Bring it on."

Koujaku settles back comfortably, wondering what is it this time. Clear usually takes pictures and films things using his built-in cameras, but a live broadcast is something new. Especially that the "something" in question might be absolutely anything - from a butterfly on the parapet to Aoba singing naked in the shower, to... Well, other things involving shower and/or Aoba.

As it turns out, it's a rather odd mix of both extremes. Clear slips into the bedroom, where Noiz and Aoba talk about... German, apparently.

"You're not pulling my leg now, are you?"

"Nope."

Noiz half-lies on the bed, looking a bit worn out, but still in a good mood. Whatever business he's up to must be going at least moderately fine.

"But... Schmetterling?"

"Uh-huh."

"Schmet- No, sorry, but this sounds like someone throwing up."

Noiz snickers and moves to peck Aoba's ear, whispering (Clear's superb hearing will never cease to astonish Koujaku):

"If it's so gross, why do you like me talking German when we-"

"All right, all right, stop that!" Aoba pushes him back, face going way beyond red. "Aren't there any nicer words to say in German? Like, I don't know..."

"Kaninchen."

"... What."

"Kaninchen. That's German for a small rabbit."

Aoba tries the word out a few times, stumbling at nearly each syllable at the first two tries. (Koujaku stifles a laugh, partly because of Aoba's efforts, partly because of course Noiz would use 'rabbit' as an example.)

"OK, what else is there? Something as cute as this but longer," in spite of the pronunciation problems, Aoba seems eager to know more. Noiz appears to be pleased.

"Right. You might remember this one, but let me test you. How do you say 'I love you' in German?"

Aoba hums in concentration.

"I do know this one, but I'm not sure I'll get it right... It's something like 'Ishi liibe dishi'...?"

Noiz scrunches his nose in mock disgust at the pronunciation, which earns him a soft punch to the arm.

"You should go softer on the 'shi', Aoba-san. Like this: 'Ich liebe dich'" Clear chirps in, blowing his cover.

"'Ish liibe dish'... Like that?"

"Much better."

"Who's asking you, rabbit punk?" Aoba smirks at Noiz and looks back to Clear, as if remembering something. "Say, Clear, your eyes look a little off. What are you... Wait. Were you RECORDING THIS?"

"No."

"Thank goodness... I'd die of shame if-"

"I'm doing a live broadcast." Clear explained joyfully.

"... I'm... Going to... KILL YOU! WHA- WH- AARGH! STOP IT IMMEDIATELY!"

At this point Clear took a pillow to the face and Koujaku disconnected to call Noiz instead. He wouldn't miss the show for the world.

***

By day eight Koujaku is so well in tune with the European local time, he doesn't even need to count in his mind to know it's past 2 AM in Germany when Aoba calls.

"Is everything all right?" the question bursts out before he even fully takes in what he sees on the screen.

"Calm down, we're fine," Aoba says, a rueful smile on his lips putting Koujaku at ease almost instantly. "Except that I miss you."

"Yeah, me too... It's just two more days, though."

"But I want you heeere..." he whines far more desperately than Koujaku would expect of him. In the background, the previously indistinct buzz begins to sound like a steady beat, which gives some idea about the situation.

"Aoba, are you at a club again?"

"Yup... And before you ask, I'm not drunk," he pouts almost childishly. "Clear dragged me out on the dancefloor and... Well, you know."

He sure did know. While Clear had no real aptitude in dancing, he compensated through enthusiasm in... Many different forms.

"And he just up and left you like that?"

"It's not... I didn't tell him, so now he's probably making out with Noiz somewhere... I guess."

Koujaku allowed himself a moment of indulgence in the vision of Clear and Noiz locked in a hungry kiss with the lights around flicking from red to yellow to green.

"Why didn't you join them? Or can you get in trouble for such stuff in Germany?"

"Wha- No, I don't think so. And I didn't join because... I want you. Here. Now."

Koujaku's breath faltered a little. He wasn't used to hearing such things in broad daylight. Or at least not spoken with that throaty, raw neediness reserved for long nights of passionate lovemaking.

"But how...?"

"Just stay with me, yeah...? Just..." he let out a startled groan that run straight down Koujaku's spine to deliver a sharp punch to the back of his knees. Good thing he barely got out of bed which now cushioned his graceless fall.

"Aoba..."

"You can join in if you want... It's less fun alone, you know...?"

He was about to protest, say that he can't and it won't work for him... Except that judging by a certain tightness, it did. Not lowering the coil for a second, he moved backwards across the bed until he hit the headboard.

"Are you sure it's safe? For you, I mean."

"Oh, please," Aoba replied with a wry smile, "the couple few stalls down makes the whole row shake... Not to mention I can hear them over the music. I'm no match for them."

"Right... Right..." Koujaku muttered, trying his hardest to stay in the here and now.

Aoba moaned his name somewhere on the other side of the world, but it wasn't that hard to imagine him being right there, body trapped between the wall and Koujaku, desperate for heat and friction, seeming to melt with every caress... Before he realised, Koujaku let his mouth run loose, telling Aoba of all the things he'd do, all the places he'd touch, until both their voices dissolved into hoarse, shuddering moans. Koujaku arched into his own hand, feeling the incoming rush, but something was still missing, trying to break through the illusion in his head.

"K-Koujaku...?"

"Y-Yeah?"

"I... I remember how... Your hand feels in mine. How rough and... Gentle it is at the same time... You remember too, right...?"

"Aoba..."

How could he ever forget? The soft edges and rough tips of each finger. The gentle curves of the lines on his palm. The little squeeze he gave Koujaku's hand like a permission to let go and fall, fall, fall head-first into the overflowing pleasure...

"Aoba...?"

"I'm here..." he wheezed, as if not really believing it was true. "I'm here."

Koujaku's whole arm went numb from holding up the coil for so long, he shifted to his side sluggishly, still dazed in the afterglow.

"Thank you."

On the other end of the world, Aoba chuckled breathlessly.

"Don't you think this... What we just did..."

"Would be right up Noiz's alley? Yeah. The brat's giving us weird ideas."

Not like it was a bad thing.

***

"Taipei. Gate open in 5."

"Well, that would be my cue," Koujaku drains the last of his drink and grins at Mizuki, who rolls his eyes but grins right back.

"They'll be half-dead after all this, eh?" he notes, somewhere between concern and amusement.

"Yup. There's a good chance even Clear won't be his usual perky self... But at least he'll be able to use his own legs for walking."

Koujaku stretches until his bones make a small pop, then exhales soundly. At worst he'll end up carrying Aoba on his back and cradling Noiz at the front... Although the latter is much more used to long-distance journeys like that.

As it turns out, the second assumption proves closer to reality.

At the airport gates, Noiz comes out first - fatigued but holding his own; he slumps into Koujaku's embrace with a tired grunt and just inhales his scent for a moment.

"Welcome back."

"Yeah."

Ruffling the short blond strands, he looks up to smile at Clear - still radiant as ever, if somewhat less bouncy. Aoba pretty much hangs from his shoulder, interrupting a sluggish hand wave to cover a yawn.

"I'll take that," he offers, catching the bag that begins to slip off the Aoba's shoulder.

"Thanks, Koujaku."

As they walk to retrieve the luggage, Koujaku feels a hand weakly slipping into his. He gives a reassuring squeeze.

"We'll be home soon enough."

***

Aoba dropped off to sleep before they reached the door. Deciding not to wake him up, Koujaku resolved to taking off his shoes and trousers and tucking him in. He was soon joined by Noiz, who at least took a shower and managed to gulp down a mug of tea before passing out.

"Not joining them yet?" Koujaku asked, emerging from the shower to Clear still sitting at the table and playing with Pseudorabbit (Noiz told him once that his Allmate recovers energy while in motion, so moving it around all the time was actually recommended).

"I can rest in the morning. Besides, now I have Koujaku-san all to myself."

"Hard to argue," Koujaku smiled and kissed the top of Clear's head. "I missed you, too."

Koujaku grabbed a bottle of sake and together they huddled on the living room couch, Clear talking excitedly about things he's seen from the aeroplane window, Koujaku sipping his drink and threading his fingers through Clear's puffy hair.

"I really wish you could've gone with us, Koujaku-san," he murmured, leaning into the touch.

"Maybe next time."

"Do you promise?" Clear asked with surprising gravity.

Koujaku shook his head, chuckling. Promising to Clear was a dangerous thing, he knew that much. He had too good a memory for that.

"I can promise that I'll see what I can do, yeah?" he raised Clear's chin and sealed his words with a languid kiss.


End file.
